Vietnam ranked 86th out of 193 countries and territories by the e-government development index (EGDI) in 2020, climbing two places from two years ago, according to the 2020 e-government survey conducted by the United Nations (UN).

Vietnam jumps two places in UN e-government index 2020. Photo: Ministry of Information and Communications

The Vietnam EGDI in 2020 obtained 0.6667 points to be classified among the countries of the world with a high level of e-government development (score of 0.5988 or more), those of Asia (score of 0.6373 and more) as well as those of Southeast Asia (score of 0.6321 upwards).

Vietnam’s EGDI in 2020 ranked sixth in Southeast Asia, behind Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei and the Philippines. The countries that saw significant improvements include Cambodia moving up 21 places, from 145 to 124; Indonesia (19 places, from 107 to 88); Thailand (16 places, from 73 to 57); and Myanmar (11 places, from 157 to 146). 

However, of the five countries ranking higher than Vietnam, three countries dropped in the EGDI in 2020 including Singapore moving down four places, Brunei one place and the Philippines two places.

The EGDI is a survey conducted annually and whose reports are published every two years by the United Nations Public Administration Program (UNPAP), since its launch in 2003.

The index is calculated taking into account the weighted average of three normalized indices, which cover the primary dimensions of e-governance namely Online Service Index (OSI), Telecommunications Infrastructure Index (TII), and Human Capital Index (HCI).

The ranking of the Vietnam Component Indices in 2020 suffered variations. While the TII increased considerably from 100th in 2018 to 69th in 2020, up to 31 places, the HCI increased from 120th in 2018 to 117th in 2020, the OSI decreased in 22 places, from 59th in 2018 to 81st in 2020, according to the survey.

In the e-participation index, Vietnam ranked 70th out of 193 member countries in the UN index, up two places compared to 2018.

Denmark, South Korea and Estonia are leading countries in e-government development.